Vegas Bachelor Party
by nherbie
Summary: Shelton Universe #5. The boys head to Vegas for Deeks's bachelor party. What could go wrong, right?
1. Chapter 1

A/N – This started out as the wedding story, it really did! Somehow, it morphed into this, but we are getting closer, I promise!

~,~,~,~

Chapter 1

"Kens? Baby? You need to make a decision!" Deeks keep his voice calm but he was getting frustrated by her inability to decide and time was getting short.

"Do you think I don't know that? I just don't know what to do!" She wasn't fooled by his tone and she was just as frustrated by her indecisiveness. This wasn't like her, she usually knew what she wanted and went for it. But this? This had her tied up in knots for some reason. Things related to Deeks always seemed to reduce her to this.

"I get it, I do. But the wedding is only two months away and we need to let people know."

"Every time I think I've made up my mind, it comes up with reasons to change it! Granger was one of my dad's oldest friends and has become so important to me, but Callen has always been there for me! How do I decide whose feelings to hurt?" Her voice cracked on the question.

"I know baby." He reached out and pulled her into his arms. "But I need to tell Sam and Callen who's going to be my best man. Once you make your decision, the next one's on me. If Kip or Ray were available, we wouldn't have quite the dilemma we're in right now, but it is what it is." Kip would be at the wedding but was out of town for the next eight weeks for an endorsement deal he'd recently signed and wouldn't be available to do anything but attend. Ray? He didn't even know where Ray was. Wit sec had been adamant that there be no contact between them, as his relationship with his old friend was the most dangerous to the man. Too many people knew about the relationship between Max Gentry and Ray Martindale.

"They're both important to me, I just can't make up my mind!" She sniffled into his chest and mumbled. "I wish my dad was here." He tightened his hold on her, wondering if this was what was keeping her from making a decision. He didn't want to pressure her but they really were running out of time. He wished she could just ask both of them. Wait a minute, why not?

He pulled back a little and voiced his thought. "Kensalina, why not ask both of them? There's no reason why they can't both walk you down the aisle, is there? Granger to represent the past and your dad, Callen to represent the present and the closest thing you have to a brother."

She looked up at him and opened her mouth to immediately say no, but then stopped. Why couldn't she do just that? What Deeks was saying made sense. That would involve both men and leave Sam to be Deeks's best man. Eric wouldn't mind as he'd immediately volunteered to do the videography and couldn't do that and still stand up for Deeks. She grinned as she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. "That's it! That's the answer! I'll ask both of them tomorrow when we get into work." She reached up to kiss him and all thoughts of the wedding fled their minds.

~,~,~,~

Kensi was nervous as they entered the Mission. Everyone had given her room to make her decisions but she'd felt them watching her anxiously, waiting for some word, some sign as to who was going to give her away. Nell had already agreed to be her maid of honor. She'd thought briefly about Cat, Mindy, Mandy, Tiffany or Tiffany but they were just too flighty, besides, Nell was the closest thing she had to a best friend these days. She was glad she had, seeing as her organized friend had immediately started making lists and schedules, thinking of things that Kensi never would have. All she had to do was show up at an appointed time and do what Nell told her to. She knew they were much further along with the wedding plans than they would be if she'd try to do it on her own or, god forbid, her mom tried to take over.

She entered the bullpen to find Callen and Sam already there. She put her bag down on her desk and looked from one to the other. Clearing her throat, she decided to go for it. "Callen, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

Callen shot Sam a triumphant look and got up quickly. "Sure Kens, whatever you need." He followed her down the hallway, surprised when she stopped at Granger's office and knocked on the door. She opened it at the gruff command to enter that came from inside and he followed her in, now frowning.

"Callen, Blye, what can I do for you?" While he'd never admit it, he _had_ been hoping Kensi would ask him to take Donny's place in the wedding. He'd like to represent his old friend, to honor him in some way. Plus, Kensi had become important to him, along with her scruffy fiancé. Having Callen with her made him wonder what was going on.

"Granger, Callen, I have a huge favor to ask both of you." She started and then stopped. Both men looked at her encouragingly. She took a deep breath and just put it out there. "I'd like to ask both of you to walk me down the aisle. Granger, I would be so honored if you would represent my dad, I know he trusted you, counted you as a good friend. It was thanks to you that the person responsible for his death was brought to justice. And Callen, you've been there for me so many times, you're the closest thing I have to a brother. It would make me so happy if both of you would agree." She waited, her hands nervously twisting together.

A huge smile formed on both faces as they both answered yes at the same time. Granger stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Donny would be so proud of you Kensi! You've turned into an amazing woman. I wish he could've been here to see it and do the honor of giving you away himself. That you've asked me to stand in his stead, is the greatest gift you could have given me. It will be my pleasure." She grinned up at him and pulled him into an awkward hug. He huffed out a rusty laugh and whispered in her ear. "You've been hanging around Deeks too long." He paused and continued softly. "Donny would've liked him." He felt Kensi tremble a little and hugged her a bit harder. He really had changed since joining this eclectic little group.

When she released him, she turned to Callen and hugged him as well. The hug was almost as awkward as the one with Granger but heartfelt all the same. She pulled back and looked up at him, happiness shining in her eyes. He smiled down at her and thought, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have this makeshift family of his, a family that had included Deeks for quite a while, something he'd only fully realized when they'd been undercover together for so long on Skid Row, just weeks ago. "So, what do you need us to do Kens?"

She looked nonplussed for a minute. "Um, talk to Nell?" Both men blinked and then burst out laughing. Their Kensi was all girl but somewhat clueless when it came to organizing anything. Her desk was a long standing testament to that. Put her out in the field, tracking a bad guy? She was the epitome of a well-trained operative. Ask her to organize something personal, and you didn't get much more personal than your own wedding, and she was an unmitigated disaster. Both agreed to talk to Nell at the first opportunity.

Back in the bullpen, Sam waited expectantly as Deeks busied himself at his desk, shuffling papers around, opening files, closing them. He finally looked up at the big man sitting next to him and met amused eyes. "What?"

"You know what, Deeks. Don't give me that."

Deeks lips curled up in his crooked grin. He'd been well aware that Sam was hoping to be best man and, truthfully, it was what he'd wanted all along. Ever since Sidorov and McGonagle, he'd felt closer to Sam than any of his other friends, Kip included. He and Sam shared something that none of his other friends could understand. He'd just put off asking him until Kensi made up her mind so he could use that as pressure to make her do it and he truly didn't want to hurt Callen's feelings. "Not sure what you're talking about, Sam-dawg."

"Don't call me that! You know, if you don't ask soon, I may have too many other things to do."

Deeks raised an amused eyebrow and decided to end the charade. "Well, we can't have that now, can we? Okay, Sam. Would you do me the honor of being my best man?"

Sam got up and hauled Deeks out of his chair, wrapping his arms around him in a hug, squeezing him half to death. "It's about time!" Was all the answer he gave.

He released him when he heard his partner's amused voice. "Would you like us to leave you two alone? Maybe book you a room somewhere?"

"Very funny G. I'll have you know that Deeks has finally seen the wisdom of asking me to be his best man!"

"Well, Kensi has finally seen the wisdom of asking me to give her away!" Callen paused and blinked. "Wait, that didn't come out right." Laughter filled the bullpen, making Hetty smile into her tea as she sat at her desk. Her family was together and happy, she couldn't ask for much more.

~,~,~,~

Several hours later, no case on deck and everyone catching up on boring paperwork, Deeks, Kensi and Callen were startled when Sam boomed out. "Vegas!"

Callen was the first to ask. "Okay, I'll bite. Vegas what?"

"For the bachelor party, of course! We can make a weekend of it the week before the wedding!"

"Um, Sam, not sure that's such a good idea." Deeks said weakly.

"Why not? Its close enough we can all drive there, plenty of clubs we can visit, do a little gambling." He looked slyly at Deeks. "Maybe take in a show? A musical perhaps?"

Deeks blushed a little but responded jokingly. "Have you never seen Hangover? I don't want to end up missing some teeth or all tatted up the weekend before my wedding! Don't even get me started on tigers in the bathroom!" Saying the words 'my wedding' sent a chill through him. He'd never expected to be this happy and was still anxious that something would spoil it. A bunch of guys loose in Vegas? That sounded like just the something that could do that. He perked up. "Besides, isn't Beale banned from Vegas?"

"I'm banned from the casinos, they can't ban me from staying there or going to clubs, just not any inside a casino and there are plenty of those!" Eric stood at the bottom of the stairs, eagerly rubbing his hands together, fairly vibrating with the excitement of going back to Vegas, already trying to figure out how he could outsmart the casinos and get in some blackjack while he was there.

Deeks wracked his brains, trying to think of another excuse not to go. He'd spent plenty of time in Vegas before he met Kensi and even a few times after, when he was desperately fighting his growing attraction to her. He sighed. Vegas was a big city with a pretty transient population, maybe it would be fine. He felt a little shiver of anticipation at the fun he could have with his friends and decided, why not. "Okay, if you want it to be Vegas, Vegas it is! Just don't expect me to explain anything to Michelle when we get back. You're all on your own there, buddy!"

Kensi was less than pleased with this turn of events. "And who is going to explain things to me, huh?"

"Kens, baby! There won't be anything to explain. We'll have a nice quiet little weekend, just the _guys_ and we'll be home before you know it." Kensi folded her arms over her chest and stared at him. He wiggled in his chair. "Besides, you'll probably be busy with your bachelorette party! I'm sure Velma has something up her sleeve."

"Don't try to distract me, Deeks! I've seen all the Hangover movies too! You made me watch them."

"You do know those are fiction, right?"

"Of course I do. It's just that I know you! Somehow you'll get into trouble, without meaning to, and I'll get a phone call to come bail you out."

"I'm hurt Fern!"

"That's what I'm afraid of." She replied softly.

He got up and went to her side, pulling her out of her chair and into a hug. Whispering in her ear he said. "I want nothing more than to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I won't let anything stand in the way of that. I'll always come home to you, no matter what. I promise to be careful and reign the guys in if it seems like things are getting out of hand."

She leaned back in his arms, putting her hands on his chest. "You promise?"

"I do." He said deliberately.

She smiled at him, giving in. She trusted him, she trusted Sam and Callen. Beale? Not so much. But the others would hopefully keep him in check. She knew John Shelton would be going as well, he counted as Deeks's family now, and if anyone could make the others toe the line, it would be the Admiral. "Fine. Go to Vegas and have some fun. All I ask is that you be careful." He smiled in turn and went back to his desk. Once he was seated, she turned her glare on Sam and then on Callen. "No strip joints, you hear me?"

"Awww, Kens!"

"Don't 'awww Kens' me! You heard me!"

"Yes ma'am." Sam crossed his fingers behind his back. While he wanted Deeks to have a good time, it would be fun to make him squirm some too. The shaggy man attracted women like flies to honey but didn't really seem to know what to do with them as they flitted around him. His busy mind was already making plans.

~,~,~,~

"No!"

"Come on Kens! It'll be fun!" Nell whined a little.

"Michelle, help me out here?" Kensi turned to the wife of the best man.

"I agree with Nell, I don't really like the idea of the guys out in Vegas, alone."

"Laura?"

"Hey, my husband's going to be out there too. I'm with Nell."

"So you both really think it's a good idea to go 'undercover' and follow the guys on Deeks's bachelor party weekend? Don't you think that smacks of not trusting them?"

"It's not that we don't trust them, it's just that…" Michelle didn't know how to finish the sentence. Kensi tilted her head to the side, trying to figure out what had the three other women in a tizzy about the impending Vegas adventure.

"Then what is it?"

"Kens, don't take this the wrong way, but Deeks attracts women of all sizes, ages and shapes." Nell said tentatively.

"So?"

"So, he's also a bit of a trouble magnet. They'll be away from their home base, without access to the support they're used to getting."

Kensi laughed. "Two highly trained federal agents, one highly trained police detective, a tech genius and a decorated United States Naval Admiral, most of whom have seen action overseas and you're worried about them going to a neighboring state for a fun weekend?"

"Kens, it's Deeks!" Nell answered.

Kensi sobered. Wasn't this exactly what she herself had worried about when Sam first came up with the idea? Not the women, it was the getting into trouble without meaning to. Take a bunch of testosterone fueled men, throw in some clubbing, Deeks, and it could be a recipe for disaster. Making up her mind, she looked at her three friends. "Okay, I'm in."

~,~,~,~

Sam looked at his list and counted. Okay, from NCIS there was him, Callen, Eric, Deeks, Granger, Jim Franklin, Charlie Porter and Sam Winston. From LAPD, Stan Wolinsky and Roger Bates. Admiral Shelton and his butler Neal, now that should be interesting. Deeks's friends Chris Peterson, Ken Crosby, Craig Trent and Troy Ashton, all of whom were dating or married to female friends of the groom, all of them introduced to each other by said groom. The list kept getting longer each day. At this point, they had fifteen guys going. If Kip Brigham hadn't been out of town, it would have been sixteen and they'd have had to deal with his fan club while they were at it. Sam had liked Kip the few times they'd met, but couldn't help but be glad the man was unavailable, blaming it on the idea of paparazzi following them around, instead of the niggling doubt that Kip would have been best man instead of him if he'd been available.

He checked his computer, looking at the hotel Eric had recommended as it didn't have a casino but did have a night club. He searched for strip joints in the area and wasn't surprised to see several come up. He called and reserved a block of rooms in the hotel, all on the same floor, trying to reassure the woman on the phone that most of the guests for the bachelor party were law enforcement and that they weren't looking to party all night and disturb other guests. She hadn't seemed that reassured, muttering something about having heard _that_ before, but the rooms were reserved and their adventure was on. He wondered if he should book a bus to take them all there but then decided it would be better if they had a couple of their personal vehicles with them. He'd take Callen, Eric and Deeks in the Challenger, he'd even let Deeks have shotgun as the guest of honor. Granger could take Franklin, Porter and Winston. The others could decide how they'd get there by themselves.

He grinned in anticipation and sent an email to the guest list with a link to the hotel and the information on what name to give. In addition, he included a watered down itinerary which included a jaunt to the strip for some low key gambling for those who wanted to or were allowed to. Responses started coming back almost immediately, everyone on board and looking forward to it. He made another phone call, this time to a talent agency that he'd found by making discreet inquiries. They had someone who matched his description and would be willing to pull a prank on the groom-to-be for a reasonable price. He gave them his credit card number and finalized the arrangements. Satisfied, he headed up to bed and Michelle. This was going to be fun!

~,~,~,~

Kensi watched the men milling around outside her home, looking like a bunch of kids heading off to camp. There were fifteen of them and four cars. Bags kept being put into one trunk, only to be taken out and put in another as they played musical cars and argued. She turned and looked at the women with her, there to see their men off, and started to laugh at the bemused looks on most of their faces. "Hard to believe most of those guys are federal agents, LAPD or Navy, isn't it girls?" The burst of laughter from the group of women had all activity out front stop, as every man turned and looked at the women watching them. Frowns furrowed most brows as they suspected it was them being laughed at. The women all tried to compose themselves but it didn't work and a fresh round of laughter broke out. The guys looked at each other and it was Deeks who finally starting laughing with the women, knowing what it was they were laughing at. The others started to join in sheepishly. Eventually, bags were stowed, car assignments agreed on and each man said a final goodbye to their lady.

Deeks hugged Kensi and didn't really want to let her go. Going away to have fun without her didn't seem right, even though he knew the girls would have some fun themselves. "I'll miss you Fern!" He said loudly and then softly continued. "The bed will be cold and lonely tonight."

"Deeks!" She smiled despite her admonishment, happy to know that he wasn't going to just leave without a backwards glance and that he'd miss her. She knew she'd be missing him, at least at night. The rest of the time, she, Michelle, Nell and Laura, along with Cheryl, who'd gotten wind of their plans and wanted in, would have them in their sights at all times. She was still feeling a little guilty about their plans to tail the guys throughout the whole weekend, keeping them under surveillance. She knew it was harmless, in that they weren't doing it because they didn't trust them, they all trusted their men implicitly; they just wanted to keep them out of trouble. Still, it felt a little wrong. "I'll miss you too! I'm glad it's only going to be two nights and you'll be home before we know it. Call me when you get there so I know you're safe? And before you go to bed every night?"

"And every morning when I get up." He bent down and whispered in her ear, making her face blush bright red as she playfully punched him. He smiled and let her go, waving goodbye to the others as he headed to the Challenger, looking forward to his first ride in the shotgun seat of the muscle car his best man drove.

As the cars finally began to pull out, heading towards the highway and Nevada, Nell walked up beside her, Michelle moving into position on the other side, Cheryl beside her. "So, what did Deeks say that had you blushing so hard, Kens?" Nell asked.

"Yeah, Kensi, what was it? Hmmmm?" Michelle teased. Kensi refused to answer, not meeting any of their eyes.

"Can I guess? Can I, can I?" Asked Cheryl. The FBI agent smirked at her friend.

Nell and Michelle exchanged glances and looked to Kensi to see if she'd cave. When no answer was forthcoming, both women nodded at the federal agent. Cheryl leaned in and asked, just softly enough that only the four of them could hear. "I would guess it had something to do with phone sex! Am I right?"

Kensi still refused to answer but knew that the telltale blush that had reappeared was giving her away. Michelle smiled at her. "You two are so cute."

"Michelle!" Kensi exclaimed.

"What, you think you two invented that?"

"Oh my god, I'm never going to be able to look Sam in the eyes again!"

Cheryl laughed and Kensi turned horrified eyes to her. "Noooo…."

~,~,~,~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nicky Karger was bored. Bored, bored, bored. This was his last pickup of the day and he wanted to be done. He always came to The Encantado Hotel last, in order to flirt with the manager of the Cuento de Hadas night club. He'd been disappointed when he found out she was off today. Now, he just wanted the protection money his boss had sent him for and then to head home for the day. He looked at his watch again, wondering what was taking the man so long, when he heard a commotion at the front desk. He looked over to see a large group of men enter, laughing and jostling each other. When the people in the group shuffled positions, his jaw dropped open and he yanked his phone out of his pocket, surreptitiously snapping a couple pictures. Hitting speed dial, he turned his back to them.

"Yeah."

"Boss, it's me, Nicky." He said quietly.

"I know who it is, you idiot! What do you want and why aren't you back here yet?"

"I'm at The Encantado and…"

"Why the hell are you still there? You have to know by now, that that bitch is never going to give you the time of day!"

"Boss, I'm going to send you a picture and you'll be glad I was still here!" Nicky took the phone away from his ear, still hearing his boss sputter and yell, picked the best picture and forwarded it.

"You should be getting it in a second."

"Why I would care about a picture, I don't know. Did you get my money yet?"

"I'm still waiting on it."

"Well, make sure he knows not to keep you waiting next time or the hotel will be needing a new manager!"

"Will do." He paused. "Did you get it?"

"Hold on." There was silence on the other end and when he finally came back, John Weir's voice was low and mean. "What the _hell_ is _he_ doing here?"

"I'm not sure. I heard something about a bachelor party."

"Whose?"

"I don't know. I didn't want to get too close, he might recognize me and there's still a warrant out for both you and me back home." Nicky was the only one from Weir's old crew who still worked for him.

"Get my money and get back here!"

"On it." He hung up the phone just as Paul Levy, the manager of the hotel, approached him with an envelope.

"What the hell took you so long?" He snarled.

"I had to deal with one of my employees. I didn't want her to get suspicious, so I had to wait for her to leave my office before I could take the money out of the safe."

"Mr. Weir isn't happy. He told me that this better not happen again or you'll regret it, do you hear me?"

Paul cringed, knowing exactly what would happen to him if he made this man wait again. Nicky grabbed the envelope and shoved it into his pocket, not bothering to count it as Levy knew exactly what would happen to him if he shortchanged Weir. He headed out, avoiding the group who was still checking in. He tried to listen in without appearing to, but he couldn't make out much of anything as most of them were talking at the same time. He did get one piece of useful information and hid a small smile. He heaved a sigh of relief when he made it outside and got into his car to head to the house where his boss ran his protection racket out of.

~,~,~,~

Paul Weir stared at the picture on his phone, his rage making his heart hammer. This was the man who'd ruined his life. He'd pretended to be his friend, pretended to be one of his best enforcers, only to turn out to be law enforcement. He'd barely gotten out of LA with the clothes on his back. Everything he'd worked for had been confiscated, his bank accounts frozen. He'd had to start over, making his way up and down the western part of the country until he'd finally settled in Las Vegas. He'd slowly built his wealth back up but he still wasn't back to where he'd been and it was all because of this one man. He missed LA, it was home, but he knew that he'd never be able to go back there, not unless he wanted to end up in jail. He looked up when Nicky entered the room. Either he'd been lost in the past longer than he thought or the man had broken a record getting here. Nicky handed over the envelopes he'd collected during the day and Weir just looked at them, his mind on other things.

"Did you find out anything else?"

"Sorry boss. No idea if he's the one getting married or not, but I did overhear one of them booking tables at Cuento de Hadas for tonight."

"How many are with him?"

"From what I heard, fourteen, making fifteen total including him."

"Fourteen? Damn it, that will make it harder to get to him and I do plan to get to him! I would bet half of them are law enforcement."

"Good bet, boss."

Weir was silent for a few minutes, Nicky waiting patiently. Weir finally looked up at him and said. "Get me Natasha." Nicky smiled and left. A half hour later, a tall brunette woman sauntered into the room. She was exotically beautiful and one of the most ruthless killers he'd ever employed.

"What do you need me for Paul?" She was the only one of his employees who could get away with calling him by his first name. Nicky only got away with calling him boss as it was a gesture of respect to both of them.

"I have a job for you tonight." He held out the phone, the picture still displayed. "This man will be at The Cuento de Hadas in The Encantado hotel tonight. I need you to get him away from the group he's going to be with and bring him back here to me. Alive!"

She looked at the picture and committed his face to memory. He was a handsome man and that meant this job would be a cake walk for her. She looked back up at the man behind the desk and asked. "My usual fee?"

"Get him here alive, mostly in one piece and I'll double it."

Her left eyebrow rose, wondering what it was about this man that obviously set off a man like Paul Weir. She didn't ask, it wasn't her place and, in the end, the why didn't matter. She had a job to do and she'd do it. She nodded once and turned to leave.

"Natasha?" She turned back to him. "Don't disappoint me."

She smiled at him. "Have I ever?" Paul Weir didn't smile back at her. She shrugged and took her leave.

~,~,~,~

The Girl's POV

Kensi slouched down in the front seat of the car as she watched the four vehicles they'd trailed from LA pull into the parking lot of the hotel. She'd pulled over the car they'd rented, just down the street from the front entrance. Nell bounced in the seat next to her, Laura and Michelle quietly talking in the back. Cheryl had had to bow out at the last minute, when she'd gotten a call about a break in a case she'd been working on for the last three months. "I still feel vaguely dirty, tailing them like this." She said.

"Kens, come on! We talked about this! It's not about trust, it's about making sure they stay out of trouble. Besides, it's going to be fun! Very cloak and dagger!" Nell responded. Kensi looked in the rear view mirror to see smiles on her other two passenger's faces.

"Fine. They should be safe enough for now. Let's go check in at our hotel." They'd booked rooms in the hotel next door, one that had a casino so Eric was unlikely to enter there and the others, if they gambled without him, would most likely head up to the strip. She started up the car and pulled away from the curb, just as Nicky Karger slunk out. He made an impression on Kensi, he struck her as someone she was immediately suspicious even though she had no reason to recognize him. She watched him slink over to his car, looking back at the hotel as he got in and drove away. She shook herself.

She pulled into the parking lot of their hotel and they all got out and stretched, the just over 5 hour drive causing them to feel tired and achy. The boys hadn't stopped once, so neither had they. They pulled their luggage out of the back and made their way inside to the check in desk. Nell and Kensi were sharing one room, Laura and Michelle another, their rooms next to each, as requested. Taking their room keys from the desk clerks, they tiredly made their way to the elevator. Kensi yawned. "I think I'm going to take a nap. Chances are, the guys aren't going to be doing much before tonight anyway.'

"Yeah, Eric told me about the night club inside the hotel he picked out for them. They'll be there tonight for sure, sometime around 9. The plan is for them to eat at the hotel restaurant first. The rest of the weekend is kind of up in the air." Nell said.

"Okay." Kensi looked at her watch. "It's a little after three now. How about we all take a nap and meet downstairs for dinner around seven? The restaurant here got good reviews. Then we'll head over to their hotel and stake out a spot in the night club before they get there." The girls all nodded their agreement and exited the elevator on their floor, splitting up at the doors to their rooms.

Kensi snagged the bed closest to the window and started to unpack. The first thing she pulled out was the blonde wig she planned to wear tonight, followed closely by a new dress Deeks had never seen, it was deep blue and clung to her curves. She sighed a little, thinking he would like it. She also had blue contact lenses she was going to wear out in public for the first time tonight. They had been specially made to hide the birthmark in her right eye. She'd worn them around the house a couple times, just to get used to them but only when Deeks wasn't around, which wasn't often. She just hoped they wouldn't bother her before the night was over. It had given her a weird feeling to look in the mirror at the blue eyed blonde staring back. Nell was also unpacking, she had a black wig that looked amazing with her eyes and a little black dress. Neither Michelle nor Laura had shared their disguises, saying they wanted it to be a surprise. Done unpacking, both fell onto their beds and were asleep within minutes of setting the alarm.

When it went off three hours later, both women felt better for the brief nap. Kensi took the bathroom first, showering quickly. She put in the contacts, put on the wig, and then applied her makeup, heavier than her normal application but appropriate for a night out on the town in Vegas. She looked in the mirror and felt a thrill of anticipation. She wondered if she could talk the girls into flirting with their guys instead of surveilling them. That would be more fun. She smiled into the mirror and left the bathroom. Nell was up next and she grabbed her wig and makeup kit as she danced into the bathroom, her excitement obvious. Kensi stepped into the new dress and zipped it up, the shoes would wait until they were ready to leave.

Nell was out in record time, the black wig hiding her trademark red hair. With her soft brown eyes, tiny frame and heavy makeup, she looked exotic. Her mouth dropped open when she saw Kensi and she gave a wolf whistle. "Kens, if I didn't know it was you, I would probably walk right by you on the street. This really is going to be fun!" Kensi just hoped she was right. Nell slipped on the little black number she'd brought. Kensi thought she was really beautiful and told her so. Her friend blushed and mumbled a thank you.

Looking at her watch, Kensi decided now was as good a time as ever to head out. She slipped on the high heels that went with her dress while Nell did the same. Making sure they both had their room keys in their purses, they left the room together. In the hallway, Michelle and Laura were just exiting theirs. Both stopped short. Laura's hair was a light brunette and obviously not a wig. The dress she had on would make most women blush but she still managed to look elegant in it. When she turned and they saw her bright green eyes, both grinned at her. She was stunning. Michelle was also sporting a wig, this one in deep auburn, the hair short and a riot of spiral curls around her face. She wasn't wearing contacts but had on more makeup than any of them had ever seen her wear. Her dress was white and made a striking contrast with her skin and wig. Kensi looked her three friends up and down, then started laughing.

"And just what's so funny, Kensi Marie Blye?" Nell's hands were fisted on her hips as she frowned at her friend.

"Are you kidding me? You all look so hot, it's going to be hard watching the boys if we're beating all the other guys off with a stick!" The three of them joined her in laughter as they made their way to the elevator. When they reached the ground floor and headed to the restaurant, they were very well aware of the eyes following them, mostly male but even a couple female. It was heady and made each one of them stand a little taller and walk with just a hint more sway in their hips than normal. They were seated immediately, their table prominent as if they were on display. They quickly made up their minds and ordered from the extensive menu. When the food came out, it was worth the wait. They enjoyed their meal, laughing as only good friends can, at stories that covered everything from disastrous dates to weird things their guys did. When they'd paid up and were leaving, the enormity of what they were about to do caused the laughter to disappear. Each of them were now having second thoughts, worried about what the boys would think if they got caught. Kensi hesitantly brought up flirting instead of surveillance and the others mulled it over, eventually deciding to play it by ear.

They got into the rental car, none of them wanting to walk over to the other hotel in the shoes they had on. Kensi made sure to park as far away from the boy's cars as she could. They exited the car and each helped the others to straighten dresses and make sure the wigs were on right. Lipsticks were pulled out and color freshened. Satisfied that all was well, they entered the hotel and made their way to the night club, keeping an eye out for any of the bachelor party. The boys weren't expected to be there for another half hour, more than enough time to stake out a table of their own. The club was more crowded than expected but they could see several empty tables with reserved signs on them. That had to be for the boys.

Kensi smiled nicely at the maître de and he looked a little dazed, his eyes traveling over the group of exotic beauties before him. Before he knew it, he was leading them to the table Kensi had pointed out. It was far enough away from the reserved tables that they shouldn't be noticed, but should afford them a good view of the whole club. Each ordered a drink from the waitress and waited, listening to the music, which was loud but not overwhelming. They watched people out on the dance floor and each one felt the pull of the music. Several men approached them to dance, each politely declined as they didn't want to stand out too much. They almost missed the entrance of the bachelor party until Kensi saw the look on several women's faces as they stopped dancing, standing in the middle of the dance floor.

She turned to look at what they were staring at and sucked in a breath. The whole party was dressed to the nines and her Deeks was even more gorgeous than usual. Even Eric was hot. Why had she never noticed just how good looking all their male friends were? She immediately felt jealousy rise within her as she watched women follow the group with their eyes as they were lead to their tables. She also felt a flush of pride, Deeks was hers, all hers, just like she was his. She looked at her friends and noticed the same narrowed eyes and frowns that she was sure she was displaying. Nell looked at her and said quietly. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"It's too late now, Nell. We're here. Let's just see how things play out." She responded, her eyes going back to Deeks. The men were all laughing, oblivious to the stares around them, or at least not reacting to them. She took a deep breath and a sip of her drink. It was going to be a long night. They watched as woman after woman came up to the tables, asking various ones to dance. Most of them, including Sam, Eric and John, ventured out onto the dance floor, never getting too close to the woman they were dancing with but obviously enjoying themselves. Deeks didn't seem to want to dance, even though there was a steady stream of hopeful women, each one turned down and immediately replaced by another one, hopeful that they'd be the one to coax him out onto the floor. Kensi was surprised as she knew that Deeks loved to dance. Callen even danced a couple slower songs with several different women.

Several hours later, a tall, striking brunette, wearing a loose, flowing dress that seemed to float around her, entered the night club and looked around. She honed in on the boys table and made a beeline for it, catching Sam's eye. Sam smiled and winked at her, unseen by the girls as he had his back to their table. Not knowing why, the woman went along with it and winked back. She approached Deeks who started to shake his head no. She leaned down and whispered into his ear. A weird look passed over his face for a moment and then he nodded. Getting up to go with her, he said something to the guys who looked surprised. All of them expected him to be led onto the dance floor, watching as she was pressed close up against him. Instead, he walked with her to the entrance and disappeared through it. The guys stared after him in shock, Sam's face going from grinning to stone cold. Kensi felt her friends staring at her but something was bothering her, something other than watching her fiancé leave a night club with a beautiful woman draped all over him. It was something about the look on his face and the way they were both holding themselves as they walked away.

At the table, Callen leaned over to Sam and asked. "Did he just say what I think he did?"

"Yeah, that he'd catch up with us later. Wherever he went with that woman, he'd better just keep going if he knows what's good for him!"

"Sam? Do you know her?" Callen had seen the silent exchange between the woman and his partner. When Sam shook his head no, he asked. "Then what was with the winking?"

"I'll tell you later." Sam growled, too upset to admit that he had set up the scenario that had just played out.

Back at the girl's table, a different conversation was going on. "Kens…" Nell started, wishing with all her heart that she'd never suggested this. "Kens, I'm so sorry."

"We all are, Kensi. I never would've expected this of him." Laura added. She was deeply disappointed in the man who she had come to look on as her little brother, blood or no.

Kensi turned to look at them. "What?"

Michelle shot her a look of sympathy. "Kensi, I'm sure nothing will happen. Maybe she just asked him for some help with something."

"No, she didn't. She was holding a gun on him."

"What?" All three said at the same time. They exchanged looks, wondering if she was in denial.

"Look, I know what you think you saw, but I know Deeks. First, he would never do that to me. Second, I know every expression of his and that first look? That was one of fear. Then there's the way they walked out together. He was so stiff and her right arm was crooked into his side, her hand hidden by the material of her dress but I know, I _know_ it was holding a gun! We need to talk to the guys." Michelle, Nell and Kensi had their guns in their bags, never going out in public without one but they knew they couldn't go haring off on their own. The guys who were law enforcement, were probably carrying as well and would be angry that they hadn't been kept in the loop.

"They're going to be pissed." Nell said in a small voice.

"How they feel doesn't matter! What matters is that Deeks was just walked out of here at gunpoint and the longer we wait, the further away from us she takes him. Let's go!" She stood up and practically ran over to the boys table, the others following after, Laura just about throwing some money at the waitress to cover their bill and the tip. Kensi rushed up to the men and talked quickly. "Sam! Callen! We have a huge problem. We need to go after Deeks, now!"

The men at the table turned to look at the four women standing beside them. John spoke first. "Sam? Callen? Do you know these women?" Both men shook their head, although Sam was frowning as the voice was familiar. "The rest of you?" All of the men shook their heads no. "Would you ladies care to tell us how you know them?"

Kensi sighed in frustration and reached up to pull off her wig. "Guys, look it's me! You need to listen, we need to go after Deeks, now!" She said again.

Sam stood up and growled at her. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing Kensi, but Deeks just up and left with that woman, without even a token show of reluctance. I think maybe you should reconsider marrying him." Sam was pissed. He had trusted Deeks, let him into his life, become his friend and he'd had them all fooled, he should have trusted his first instincts about the man. He looked past Kensi at the other women, now recognizing Nell and Laura. Knowing that he wouldn't if not for association with Kensi. He found himself impressed at their disguises. There was a fourth woman who seemed to be hiding behind the others and he sighed, pretty sure he knew who it was. "Michelle?"

Michelle swallowed hard and stepped out from behind her friends. "Hey baby."

"What the hell? You were following us? Didn't you trust us?" Sam was getting even angrier. John just looked at Laura like he'd never seen her. While he wasn't all that pleased with the situation, the sight of his normally blonde haired, blue eyed wife as a brunette with amazing green eyes, was doing funny things to his stomach.

Nell stepped in. "Sam, it was my idea! It was just supposed to be a lark and we thought we might be able to keep you guys out of trouble, you know it follows Deeks wherever he goes. It was never about trust, we all trust each of you implicitly." She aimed the last sentence at Eric, who just looked shell shocked.

Kensi interrupted. "Can we shelve the recriminations and explanations until later? We need to find out why that woman took Deeks and where! The longer we stand here arguing, the less likely we can track them."

Callen stood up. "Track them where, Kensi? Back to her room? Back to his?"

"You don't understand! I can't prove it but I _know_ she had a gun on him!"

"Look, Kens, I know it's a shock but I…I need to tell you something…." Sam started, not wanting to admit the woman who Deeks had just left with had been hired from a talent agency, by him, to come onto the groom, especially as it didn't turn out like he'd thought. He was going to kill Deeks when he finally got ahold of him.

She interrupted him. "Yes, it's a shock to see the man you love marched out of a club at gunpoint while his supposed friends do nothing! None of you highly trained federal agents realized something was wrong? You guys _have_ to _listen_ to me! You know him, he didn't go with her willingly! I'm sure he only went to make sure no innocent bystander was hurt. Look, if you won't go with me, then fine! I'll just go by myself!" She turned to leave and the rest of the men got up to follow, John falling behind as he made sure to pay the bill as they left.

As Sam was moving towards the exit, intent on stopping Kensi from making a fool of herself, another pretty brunette woman walked in, searching the room. She saw him leaving and scrunched up her face, looking like she was going to cry. "Mr. Hanna?"

"Yes?" Sam stopped, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! My babysitter cancelled on me and it took me some time to find another. I got here as soon as I could. Did I miss your friend?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Christina. I was sent by the Perkins Agency? To play a trick on your friend, the groom?" The woman was now unsure and started to back away. "Look, I'll just tell them it didn't pan out and they'll refund your money. Just, please, if you could? Don't tell them I was late? I really need this job."

"Don't worry about it!" He said as he sprinted away, catching up with the rest of the group as they reached the exit, all of them leaving the club just in time to see the woman drive past them in a red Mustang, Deeks in the passenger seat, looking drowsy. He met Kensi's eyes in shock and then he closed his as he mouthed 'I love you' at her and slumped against the glass. Then, they were gone.

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N – some minor vulgar language warning.

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Chapter 3

Deeks came around slowly. He blinked owlishly at his surroundings, having a hard time remembering how he got here. The room looked to be a home office based on the desk sitting between the two windows with a computer on it and the printer next to it. He wondered how long he'd been out. It appeared to be light out now, at least from what he could tell through the curtains pulled tightly closed over the windows. Not all that helpful as it had been late last night, or rather early this morning when he'd been taken. He frowned, thinking back over the day, things coming back to him slowly. He remembered arriving at the hotel and checking in. He'd hung out in his room until it was time to meet the guys for dinner. He'd found himself missing Kensi badly and had had to resist calling, just to hear her voice. He'd showered, shaved and dressed, eventually staring at himself in the mirror, thinking she'd like the way he looked. The guys met in the lobby and had dinner at the hotel before heading over to the nightclub, where Sam had booked tables earlier. He'd been approached by more than a few women to dance, but his heart just wasn't in it. There was only one woman he wanted in his arms, and she was back in L.A. Several of the other guys had danced, while he people watched and nursed his drink. His eyes had landed on a table with four very attractive women sitting around it and he'd felt something when looking at the tall blue-eyed blonde. Something that felt familiar. He'd swear it was Kensi, but when she'd met his eyes, he knew it couldn't be. There was no birthmark in her right eye, a birthmark that he was pretty sure contacts couldn't cover. He'd sighed and broken the connection.

His frown deepened as he remembered when the woman who'd abducted him had walked in. He'd swear something had passed between her and Sam before she'd approached him. She'd leaned down and he'd already been shaking his head no, expecting her to ask him to dance. Instead, he'd felt the unmistakable hard barrel of a gun pushed into his ribs. She'd whispered in his ear. "You'll come with me now or I'll shoot as many of your friends as I can. Stand up and put your arm around my shoulders. Tell your friends you'll see them later." His first thought had been that Sam had set him up for a prank; that was until he'd looked into her eyes and saw nothing in them, they were devoid of any feeling. A momentary rush of fear had passed through him and he'd nodded. He'd stood up and put his arm around her, telling the guys what she'd told him to. The looks on Sam and Callen's faces had angered him. They'd both gone from smirking to shocked and then to furious as they took in his arm around the exotic woman. He'd thought they knew him better, he knew they'd been drinking but neither ever over indulged.

He'd had no intention of going anywhere further than the parking lot with this woman. Once away from any innocent bystanders he'd execute the plan he'd already worked out in his head as to how he'd take her out as quickly as he could. They'd reached the entrance to the hotel and he'd tensed, preparing for a fight, just as he'd felt a sharp pain in his right thigh. He'd looked down to see her push the plunger on the syringe she'd just stabbed him with. He'd looked at her in surprise and she'd smiled, her eyes still cold and flat. Still whispering, she'd told him. "Just a little sedative. We should have a few minutes before it fully takes effect, just enough time to get to my car." He'd shaken his head no, the world spinning as he did so. He'd tried to fight against her, but the drug had made him uncoordinated and weak. She'd been stronger than she looked and hustled him to the car, leaning him up against the red mustang while she opened the door and then pouring him into the passenger seat, looking more like a woman helping her drunken boyfriend than someone who'd just abducted a man right out from under his friend's noses. Once she'd closed the door, he'd tried to open it again, but couldn't seem to get his fingers around the handle. She'd pulled out of the parking spot and headed out, passing the entrance to the hotel just as his friends had poured out, a dark haired woman leading the way. He'd met her eyes and was shocked, it was the blonde from earlier, except now she was brunette but still blue-eyed. When his sluggish mind finally told him it was Kensi, he mouthed "I love you." to her as he lost his fight to stay awake.

So, now that he'd remembered the how, he still needed to know the who, the why and the where. He wracked his brain as to who in Nevada might want to hurt him. He'd never worked a case here and had never won or lost big enough to warrant someone coming after him. Hell, most of the time he just came to Vegas for the shows. His head feeling clearer, he took stock of his situation. He was sitting on a hard wooden chair, his hands cuffed behind his back. He smiled a little, hand cuffs were better than zip ties. He thought back to a class he'd taken a few months ago on escaping restraints. One he was rather interested in, picturing it as a how to be Houdini kind of class. Of course, it wouldn't have been prudent to show any overt interest in it, so he'd done his normal whining to Hetty about having to take 'professional development' classes. The class was as fun as he'd anticipated and he'd been pleasantly surprised by the instructor, passing it with a glowing review. He and the teacher had gotten along well and the man had laughingly told him he was both blessed and cursed. Blessed with long arms and fingers, making it easier to escape, cursed with long legs that made it harder. The fact that he was limber from all the yoga sessions with Kensi, had served him well. They still emailed a couple times each month, Mike regaling him with stories of his students getting themselves tied up into knots. He wiggled on the chair, his smile widening as he realized he wasn't cuffed directly to it and his legs were free. Whoever'd bound him wasn't all that bright. He had a feeling it wasn't the woman who'd taken him, she'd struck him as too efficient to make such a mistake. He wondered if they'd patted him down and lifted his left leg, noting the weight was missing. Damn it, they'd found his back up weapon and he liked that gun!

He stuffed his feet under the chair, putting his heels just under the front rungs and carefully stood up, taking the chair with him, bent over at the waist. He shimmied a little, moving his arms up the relatively short back of it, wondering, while he was doing so, if he looked like he was executing some obscene exotic dance. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he concentrated. When his arms finally came free, he grimaced when the chair made a slight noise as it landed back on the rug. At least the rug muffled the sound somewhat. He froze, waiting to see if the noise brought anyone running. When it remained quiet, he carefully bent over, bowing his back the way he'd been taught and pulling his hands as far apart as he could, feeling the cuffs biting into the skin of his wrists. He wiggled and rocked until his hands passed under his butt. He awkwardly sat on the floor and pulled his legs in close to his chest. He turned his shoulders towards his right leg, lying on his left one and carefully began to work the right leg through the ring of his arms, sweat dripping off his nose. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally worked it through, Mike's voice laughing about his long legs sounding in his head. The second leg went quicker and soon he was able to stand up with his hands cuffed in front of him. When he got out of here, he planned on sending his friend a thank you present.

He silently walked up to the door and put his ear to it, hearing nothing on the other side. Moving away, he went to the desk and opened the top drawer, not expecting to find the keys to the cuffs but it didn't hurt to have hope. The open drawer didn't provide the keys but they did provide some paper clips. He fished one out and unbent it. Holding the right cuff steady with his left hand, he bent his right one at the wrist and inserted the end of the paper clip in the lock, remembering the lessons he'd been taught, this time by Callen and Kensi. He chewed his lips as he maneuvered the clip around in the lock, pleasantly surprised when he heard the snick of the mechanism being released. He removed the cuff from his hand and shook it out. He was just about to attack the left cuff when he heard approaching footsteps. He stuffed the paper clip into his pants pocket, quickly walked back to the chair and sat down, putting his hands behind his back and grasping the empty cuff in his right hand, hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice the difference. He lowered his head toward his chest, figuring they'd think he was still out, giving him the advantage of surprise.

He'd barely settled when the door opened and closed. He was unprepared when a foot connected with his shin and he couldn't stop a small yelp escaping him. "Wake up _Max_!" Deeks knew that voice, he never forgot a face, a name or a voice. If he was dealing with Nicky Karger, it was a safe bet that Paul Weir was behind this. It would just be his luck that the two of them had landed here. Nicky wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but he was loyal to Weir to a fault. He took in a deep breath and let the persona of Max come over him. When he was ready, he looked up and met the eyes of his captor.

"Nicky." He said flatly. "You want to explain to me what the _hell_ I'm doing here?" His voice was deeper and rougher, his eyes hot with rage as he rattled his cuffs.

"What do you think you're doing here? You sold us out! You're a cop and we lost everything because of you! Now _you're_ going to lose everything!"

Deeks hid his surprise, he'd been swept up with the rest of Weir's thugs and thought that his cover was still good. They'd never figured out how Weir, along with Karger and one of their underlings, a moron who named Stevie, had gotten away. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm no fucking cop!" Nicky's leg cocked back to kick him in the shin again but Deeks was ready and lashed out himself, catching the man just right, while he was balanced on one foot, almost knocking him to the floor. "Try that again and I'll kill you!" He growled.

Nicky righted himself and spat at him. "And how would you do that? You're cuffed to a chair! Besides, you're a cop, you can't just kill someone for something like that."

Max laughed harshly. "Doesn't matter the how, just know that it will happen! Now, why the hell do you think I'm a cop?"

"Stevie told us!"

"Oh? And how would _Stevie_ know something like that? It's not like I'd ever spent much time with him, he was a loser."

"Yeah, well, he figured _you_ out."

Deeks thought back to the day of the raid. Weir and Karger had been upstairs, Stevie must have been with them. He thought quickly. "If anyone was a cop, it was Stevie!"

"Stevie?" Nicky laughed. "Trying to put the blame on someone else Max? If that is your name?"

"Jesus, Nicky, just how stupid are you? Why was Stevie up there with you? Was he supposed to be there?"

"What? No, but why does that matter?"

"Don't you think the cop who set you up would want to be close to you when the raid went down? To make sure you didn't get away? Where was I? I'll tell you where I was. I was downstairs, doing my job, when the cops broke in. I spent the next two years in the pen while you and Weir disappeared off the face of the planet, scott free."

"Stevie went with us when we ran, he wasn't the cop!" Nicky argued, but Deeks could see doubt creeping in.

"Whose idea was it to run?"

"The boss's. He was armed but he didn't want a shootout with the cops." He paused, thinking back. "Stevie…Stevie didn't want to run, he thought the cops would be waiting. The boss pointed his gun at him and he shut up. We went out the window and up to the roof. From there we got onto another roof and were able to get away."

Deeks inwardly fumed, wondering why no one had been covering that escape route. "And where did Stevie go?"

"He disappeared while we were running. I have no idea where he went and I don't care."

"Isn't that interesting?" He asked snidely.

Nicky decided to change the subject but he was going to repeat this conversation to the boss. He was starting to think maybe they had the wrong guy. "Never mind Stevie, Max. What are you doing in Vegas?" He was worried that if Max really was a cop, then he was here to finish the job he'd started ten years ago.

"I'm here for a bachelor party, working as the groom's bodyguard."

"Bodyguard? That's a step down for someone like you, Max." Nicky sneered.

"Yeah, well, when I got out, no one would touch anyone who worked for Weir with a ten foot pole. They all knew that he'd either been betrayed or had an undercover cop on his payroll. They didn't know who it was and wouldn't hire any of us. This is the only gig I could get. Guy's filthy rich and likes having a few bad boys around to up his street cred. Money's not bad."

"Street cred?" Nicky snorted.

"His words, not mine. Guy's like sixty and about to marry trophy wife number four. Or is it five? Too bad really, last wife was nice, the new one's a bitch. They get younger as he gets older." He hoped Granger never got wind of this conversation. He watched Nicky carefully, realizing the man felt comfortable that Deeks, or Max, was no threat, bound to the chair as he supposedly was. He'd been watching for an opening and finally got it when Nicky turned his back on him, still chuckling about 'street cred'. He was out of the chair in a flash, his arms around the man's neck in a sleeper hold. He was always surprised that people tried to claw at the arm he had pressed up against their throat, instead of elbowing him in the ribs or smashing their head against his nose, both of which would loosen his hold. He'd been told it had to do with the feeling of suffocation, the first instinct being to remove the restriction, all other thoughts fleeing as the person panicked. Sam and Callen had made him practice breaking the hold, surprised when he didn't go for the arm but wildly fought back with other parts of his body, according to them, an unusual reaction. They trained him on the most efficient ways to get free, only asking once why he reacted as he did. He'd made some wise ass comment, not wanting to admit that he'd had plenty of experience with choke holds growing up. They'd caught his discomfort and let it go. Nicky didn't have his training and continued to claw at the arm, his movements getting slower until he went slack in Deeks's arms.

He carefully moved Nicky, who was now dead weight, over to the chair, putting him in it and catching him as he listed to the side without his support. When he was sure the man would stay put, he went to work on the left cuff, opening it quicker now that he had one free hand to use. He patted Nicky down and found a gun tucked into his pants behind his back. He smiled when he recognized his piece. He tucked it into the back of his own pants and continued to search him for anything useful. He found the keys to the handcuffs in the man's right hand pants pocket. He should have thought to search him before picking the lock, but what the heck, he could use the practice. He pulled Nicky's hands behind his back to cuff him, making sure to weave them through the slats in the back of the chair, which they should have done with him. That would've made it, if not impossible, at least less likely that he would escape as he had. The only way out would be to break the chair but it was pretty sturdy, so that was either not going to happen or would be time consuming, both of which Deeks was fine with. Unfortunately, that shortened the length of the cuffs and he had to pull Nicky's arms further behind him, knowing that it would be painful when the man woke up. Still, he couldn't take any chances. He looked around for something to use as a gag but found nothing. Looking down, he sighed as he pulled his tie off. He liked this tie, it was one of his favorites. He carefully knotted the center, making a big knot in the middle, but leaving enough to be able to tie it behind Nicky's head. When he was done, he opened the man's mouth and shoved the mass in and tied the ends together tightly.

He moved to the right hand window and peeked out the curtain, being sure to not make any big moves in case someone was out there. He looked around and only saw trees. He sighed, there was no way to tell where he was. Although woods in the Vegas area were somewhat sparse, it might be natural or it might just be expensive landscaping. He pulled the gun back out, moved quietly to the door again and listened, the gun held down by his side, index finger along the barrel. When he heard nothing, he carefully cracked the door and peered through. The hall was empty and he slipped out, closing the door behind him, remembering to lock it to make it harder for someone to get through from this side; maybe buying him a few more minutes if anyone else came to check in on him. He hugged the wall as he slipped down the hallway, clearing each room as he passed. He found the stairs and worked his way quietly to the first floor, hoping none of the steps creaked. He reached the bottom silently and moved into the spacious living room. Spotting a phone, he walked to it, the gun sweeping the room. It was starting to look like Nicky had been the only one home. He picked up the receiver and dialed a number he knew by heart. It rang a couple times and he was about to hang up when he heard her voice.

"This is Kensi." She sounded strained.

"Kens, baby, miss me?"

"Deeks? Where are you? And that isn't funny!"

"I'm not sure where I am. I just woke up here. There's nothing outside to indicate where I am, at least not that I can tell. I found a landline and called you."

"Then how do we find you?"

"Um, Kens, I know it's the mobile age but, hello? Landline? Eric should be able to find out what address it's listed under."

"Oh. Right." He waited while she read off the numbers to Eric. When she came back she asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, a little nauseous from whatever they gave me, but otherwise good."

"Can you leave the house? Get away?"

"I think so, I was about to leave when I saw the phone." He paused when he heard a noise. As it got louder, he realized what it was. "Kens, I gotta go. There's a car coming."

"Hang on baby, we'll be there as soon as we can. If you leave the house, don't go far, we'll find you!"

"I know. I love you."

"I love you too."

He didn't even bother to ask why she was in Vegas. That was a conversation for another moment when they had more time. He hung up the phone and moved towards the front door. Unfortunately, he'd waited too long and there was no way he'd be going out this door. He was about to head through the house to find a back door, when the car stopped and two men got out. He recognized Weir immediately, the other guy was a stranger. He could hear them through the door. "Benny, walk the perimeter. I'm going inside to check on our guest." Deeks flattened himself along the side of the door, stuffing his gun back into his pants, now knowing only one person would be coming through. When the door opened and Weir stepped through, he did the same as he had with Nicky, with the same results. When Weir slumped to the ground, he realized he had nothing to tie him up with. He left him on the floor and found his way into a kitchen where he found nothing useful but some dish towels. He grabbed a couple and made his way back to the living room.

As he looked down at the unconscious man, he sighed again as he reached for his belt. The way he was going he'd be down to his boxers before he got out of this mess. He lifted the man into a sitting position and looped the belt around Weir's hands and then the door knob, pulling it tight enough to almost cut off the circulation but not quite. He knotted two of the dish towels together and stuffed the knot into Weir's mouth, tying the ends together behind his head. Two down and one to go. Pulling his gun out once again, he moved silently through the living room and back into the kitchen, where he'd seen an outside door. He leaned up against the wall to the right of the door and peeked out the curtain on the window, seeing the man Weir had called Benny rounding the corner. He waited as the guy checked the windows, his heart beating a little faster when he saw the door handle wiggle on his side as the man verified the door was locked. When he moved on, Deeks reached out and slowly unlocked the door. Looking back through the window, he saw the man disappear around the other side of the house. He turned the knob gently and then slowly opened the door just wide enough for him to slip out.

Following Benny quietly, he reached the edge of the house and paused. He leaned against the wall and peered around it. What he found was a gun pointed at his head. He stuffed his gun in his waistband before he rounded the edge fully and raised his hands as Benny smiled at him. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I was bored and decided to go for a walk while I waited for you guys to get home. Did you bring takeout? I'm starving! Maybe you could whip me up an omelet? How about some french toast? I'd also kill for a cup of coffee, milk, two sugars." The smile on Benny's face faded with each word.

"You think you're some kind of comedian? I'm holding a gun on you, smart ass. Show some respect." Benny got into Deeks's face just as he'd hoped. While he was concentrating on yelling at him, Deeks had lowered his hands unnoticed and surreptitiously pulled his own gun out. He sneezed into Benny's face and the man reared back with a disgusted look on his face. "What the hell?" He managed to get out before Deeks grabbed the hand with the gun with his left, pushing it away so it wasn't pointing at him anymore, knowing it could go off accidentally and then clocked Benny in the temple with the gun held in his right. Benny looked surprised for a moment before he crumpled to the ground. Wondering what the hell he could do with this one, he patted him down and found the car keys. He smiled and grabbed the man by the back of the collar. Dragging him along, he made his way to the car, breathing a little hard. The guy was heavier than he looked. He let him go and used the keys to open the trunk. He took a moment to catch his breath and then heaved the dead weight up and into the trunk. He closed the lid and leaned up against the car. He was about to get into it to drive away when he heard the sound of more approaching vehicles. He figured it had maybe been somewhere between a half to three quarters of an hour since he'd talked with Kensi, but there was no guarantee the cars arriving were friendlies. He couldn't drive out as they were coming in. If they were of the unfriendly variety, he'd be a sitting duck. He sprinted back around the house and reentered through the kitchen door. He ran in a crouch back into the living room, ignoring the still unconscious Weir. He peeked out the window and waited, breaking into a smile when he saw the familiar black Challenger leading the pack.

He stood up and looked around the living room, picking out a comfy chair that had the best vantage point to watch the entrance from the kitchen. Sauntering over, he sat down and crossed one leg over the other, idly swinging his foot back and forth, inspecting his cuticles. Car doors opened quietly and he was impressed with how silently everyone was moving. The front door handle moved and Weir's hands moved with it. It bulged in a little as someone tried to push it open, but Weir was too heavy for them to move, even for Sam. The movement stopped and he could picture whoever was on the other side motioning to go around back. A few seconds later, he heard the kitchen door open quietly. If he hadn't been listening for it, he would have missed it. He sat quietly, not moving, not wanting to be shot if they mistook him for one of the bad guys. He had to smile when Sam and Callen came barreling through the open doorway, guns up. Both men stopped, their mouths dropping open as their eyes moved from Deeks sitting in the chair, perfectly composed, to the unconscious man hanging off the front door knob.

"Hell of a bachelor party guys! You sure know how to show the groom a good time!"

~,~,~,~

A/N2 – I'm not an expert on getting out of restraints but I actually tried getting my hands from behind my back to under my butt, using a substitute for the handcuffs that was close enough. I'm not very limber, but I managed to do it! Yay me!

A/N3 – There will be an epilogue.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N – Realized I haven't done this in a while so…1) I own none of the NCIS LA characters, they all belong to CBS…sigh. 2) I am not now, and never will be at this point in my life, a medical or law enforcement professional. I write for fun and sometimes I get things wrong. Feel free to let me know if you find anything and, if I can without having to rewrite the story, I'll fix it. Thanks to Scarlet Feather23 for reminding me Sam drives a Challenger not a Charger. It's been corrected!

A/N2 - Thanks to FireFlower88 for her ideas that helped me with this story! She's also given me some great ones for the wedding story, which we are going to co-author! Also, as always, thanks to Honus47 for being such an _awesome_ beta and friend.

~,~,~,~

Chapter 4

Callen grinned at him and Sam just looked sheepish as they lowered their guns. "Anyone else in the house Deeks?" Asked Callen. He'd developed a greater appreciation of their detective's skills during their stint on the Row and he couldn't say he was all that surprised to see him just sitting and waiting for them to 'come to the rescue'. Sam, on the other hand, found himself absurdly proud.

"Yeah, another one tied up in a locked room on the second floor and one locked in the trunk of the car outside." Deeks answered.

"Any idea what…" Callen was interrupted by Kensi pushing her way between him and his partner. She'd heard his voice from her station and had made a beeline for him. She stopped short when she saw him just sitting there, looking for all the world like he was entertaining guests at home. He raised his right hand to wave jauntily at her and his shirt cuff shifted, exposing the abrasions around his wrist. She was moving in an instant, falling to her knees beside the chair and gently taking his hand in hers, turning it over as she inspected it carefully.

He tugged it back a little as he said. "It's no big deal, Kens. Just a little bruising. Doesn't even hurt."

She eyed him and then moved to his left hand, exposing the abrasions there. "Hand cuffs?"

"Yup."

"You pick the locks?"

"Yup."

"I have taught you well young grasshopper." She quipped. His lips lifted in a smile as he recognized the words from an old TV show that was still a favorite of his.

He looked up at Sam and Callen, noticing that the group had now grown to include practically the whole bachelor party as well as Nell and Michelle. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that those two were here with Kensi and, if he was not mistaken, he would place bets that Laura was involved as well. Thinking that, he looked back at his fiancé and frowned. "Why are you in Vegas, Kensi? Did you not trust me?"

Kensi opened her mouth to answer but Nell beat her to it. "It wasn't her idea, Shaggy, it was mine." She deliberately used her favorite nickname for him, hoping he would read it for what it was, an apology.

"Why, Nell?"

She blushed and cursed her red head's complexion. "It's just…trouble always seems to find you. And with this lot here with you…" she gestured over her shoulder at the other men. "…it seemed like a given that something would happen. And it did!"

"But I managed to get myself out of it without your help, didn't I?"

"I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, it's just nice to know we're close by if needed, you know?" Nell's eyes begged him to forgive her and he weakened, he never could resist his Nellasauros. He wondered if he would be as blasé if it had been Kensi going to Vegas with a bunch of the girls, leaving him at home to wonder and worry. Would he have said no if Callen or Sam had brought up the same idea? While they called him a trouble magnet, Kensi was a bit of one herself. Finally, he smiled at her.

"I get it Velma, I do. I just wish you'd asked to come along if you were all that worried."

"On a bachelor party weekend? Yeah, like that would have gone over well. Besides, it was a good chance to practice our tracking and surveillance skills, not to mention some kickass disguises!" She was relieved that he'd obviously forgiven her, using the corresponding nickname for her and smiled widely at him. The answering smile was all she could hope for. She watched as it faded and his eyes drifted away from her to Sam.

"Sam?"

The big man shifted nervously. "Yeah?"

"Want to tell me how you knew the woman who took me away at gunpoint?"

"I didn't…I…I just thought I did."

"Explain." Deeks's voice was flatter than they'd ever heard from him, the one word response uncharacteristic and both Sam and Callen knew they'd messed up with him big time. They each hoped they could make it up to him.

When Sam didn't respond right away, his wife elbowed him in the ribs. He looked desperately at Callen but his partner was studiously looking at anything but him. "Fine, I thought I'd pull a prank on you and hired an actress from a local agency to pretend to come on to you and not take no for an answer. I've seen you when a woman gets like that, you have no idea what to do and it's pretty adorable, I mean funny, it's funny." He hastily corrected himself. "I had the agency vetted and a picture of the woman sent to me, ran her name through our database. She came up clean. Single mom trying to make ends meet while waiting for her big break as an actress. In the semi darkness of the club, the woman who abducted you looked enough like her that I thought it was her. She even seemed to know me. I'd given your description, along with Callen's and mine to the agency so she'd know who to approach, so when she responded to me, I think it solidified in my mind that it was her. That…that's on me. Kensi knew something was wrong and I was so sure that my prank had just backfired badly, I didn't want to listen to her. If I had, then maybe she never would have gotten out of the nightclub with you, let alone the hotel. I'm sorry Deeks, I really am." He found himself wondering if Deeks would rescind his request that he be his best man and his stomach churned. He really did care for the detective and had been both flattered and honored when he'd been asked. Now, he worried that he'd poisoned their relationship.

Deeks only nodded once and looked at Callen. "You know about this?"

The other man sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he told me after he'd already booked her and showed me the picture. Sam's right, in the gloom of the club, I thought it was her too. We both should have trusted Kensi's instincts sooner."

"I know you guys thought this woman was the one Sam hired, but why would you think Deeks would just ditch you guys and go with her willingly?" Asked Kensi. It was a question that had been eating at her but they'd all been so focused on finding him that she hadn't asked, not wanting it to be a distraction.

Sam frowned. "I'm not really sure, Kensi. I know that he would never cheat on you any more than I'd cheat on Michelle. If I'd ever thought for one second that he would, I would never have set up a prank like that. It was just like…I got so caught up in the moment, it took a while for my brains to kick in and register that. I have to tell you, for half a second I wondered if he'd caught on and was turning the prank back on me. When I saw her driving away with him, I'd have given anything to take it all back."

Kensi looked at Callen, Deeks eyes following hers. "Yeah, what he said." Deeks's eyebrows went up. "Look, Marty, it only took us a couple minutes to know how mistaken we were. Haven't you ever thought something in the heat of the moment, only to realize that your thinking was all wrong? You believe what your eyes have seen but once you have a chance to process it, it looks completely different? And Sam was right again, we both know you'd never do anything to hurt Kensi." He looked Deeks in the eyes and noticed a slight softening there but he was pretty sure they'd have more work to do on this later, worried that all the progress they'd made in their relationship while undercover together, had just gone out the window due to a moment of extreme stupidity on his part. He'd deliberately used the man's first name, similar to what Nell had done, to show how much he meant what he said. "After all, you know you'd have to contend with all of us if you did!" That brought a snort of laughter from Deeks and the tension in the room lessened somewhat.

Granger decided it was time to bring this back to the matter at hand and spoke up. "Okay, not that all the touchy feely stuff is out of the way, can you tell us what the hell this was all about?" He'd been worried about the detective and it showed in his voice.

Deeks sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, it all goes back to a case I worked in L.A. about ten years ago. I was undercover as Max Gentry, working for Paul Weir, our target." He paused and pointed to the man still hanging from the door knob. "We knew he was big into extortion but we were never able to make anything stick. The guy had money to burn but the only source of income we could find, was never near enough to account for that."

Bates interrupted from his spot on the fringe of the group. "I remember that case, Weir and a couple of his guys got away. We never figured out how."

"Apparently there was an exit up onto the roof that no one was covering. They got out that way." The two men exchanged glances, wondering if that had just been an oversight or one of their own had had a hand in it.

"Go on." Granger prompted.

"I was booked as Max Gentry and then went back to work. Weir never showed up on our radar again. A couple years later I started at NCIS and here we are. Apparently, he set up shop in Vegas and somehow found out I was here, still thinking I was Max. One of the guys who escaped with him, told him that I was a cop and had set him up. Far as I know, the guy's still in the wind." Again he and Bates shared a look, Bates's eyes narrowing at the implications. "They took me to exact some revenge. Things didn't turn out quite like they'd planned though. Both he and the guy upstairs, Nicky Karger, still have active warrants out for their arrests in L.A. The guy in the trunk? No idea who he is. Did you find the woman?"

This time Eric answered. "Sorry man, there were no plates on the car and it took me too long to locate and hack into the local video cameras on my tablet. We were able to follow her for a bit after she left here, but then we lost her. We think she knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them. The guys tried to follow in their cars but it was like she just vanished with you."

"Yeah, not surprised. I got the feeling she was a professional, she was too good at what she did. Although I am surprised Weir was working with a woman in this, he was rather…misogynistic when I worked with him, never wanted a woman involved in anything, didn't think they were capable of doing much besides spitting out kids and cooking dinner." Kensi gave him a look. "Hey, his way of thinking, not mine! I know exactly how capable women can be. I got me a badass federal agent fiancé to prove it!"

Kensi laughed and then had to ask. "What did she say or do to make you go with her?"

"You mean other than pressing a gun into my side? She threatened to shoot as many of my friends as she could. I didn't believe her at first, but then I looked into her eyes and they were the deadest I've ever seen and I've seen some pretty bad people in my day. I knew that she meant what she said, that she'd take as many of you out as she could before you shut her down. She didn't seem to care. I couldn't let that happen. Besides, there were too many innocent bystanders in there, someone else was bound to get hurt if I refused to go with her." He hated that he sounded like he was defending himself.

Kensi squeezed his hand. "You did the right thing. You know, you could have let us rescue you instead of doing it all by yourself."

"Oh? Are you disappointed you didn't get to ride in on your white horse and rescue the detective in distress?" He teased her.

She leaned into him and whispered in his ear. "Yeah, I am a little. After all, the detective would need to show his gratitude to the knight who'd just saved his life. And I can think of lots of ways for him to do just that." She leaned away and watched the blush start at his collar bone and rise up his face. He swallowed hard and looked away from her, not meeting anyone else's eyes until the heat died down a little.

"How do you want to play this, Deeks?" Sam asked, hiding the smile that wanted to break out on his face as he watched Deeks react to whatever it was that Kensi had whispered. He had a good idea what the general theme had been. Deeks looked up. The fact that Sam was willing to follow his lead, let him know the big guy really was sorry for everything that had happened. He looked at Callen, who smiled and nodded. He still wasn't sure how he felt about their assumptions but they'd both apologized and explained themselves. He might get some mileage out of this and it could go a long way towards helping sooth his disappointment that they'd thought those things about him, even for a minute. He thought for a bit and then a slow smile came over his face. The others in the room waited, knowing that smile meant he had something up his sleeve.

"Ok, this is what we're going to do."

~,~,~,~

Paul Weir slowly woke to the sound of arguing. He tried to move his arms, but they were tied above his head. How the hell had that happened? He didn't remember much of anything after coming back to the house. He swallowed and realized he had something shoved in his mouth. He tried to push it out with his tongue, but it wouldn't budge. He gave up and opened his eyes, taking in the two men in front of him. Both wore badges and he knew he was in trouble. His eyes roamed the room and he saw Nicky tied up and gagged just like he was, on the other side of the room. Nicky was awake too and their eyes met. Weir asked with his eyes and Nicky just shrugged. Weir turned his attention back to the two cops and listened to them argue.

"Where the hell is Max Gentry?" Growled the older of the two. The younger stood his ground.

"We don't know. He was supposed to be here. Stevie has been following him ever since we got eyes on him again when he landed at McCarron with Peterson and his entourage." Nicky's eyes widened and he looked at his boss. The man was engrossed in the conversation and he wasn't sure if he'd picked up on the use of Stevie's name. He wondered if he would've either, if Max hadn't mentioned him. He tuned back into the argument. "Look, even though we didn't get Gentry, we aren't going away empty handed. Two of these guys have outstanding warrants back in L.A. and one has been on LVPD's wanted list for months. If we turn him over to them, maybe they won't get all pissy about us keeping them out of the loop on this."

"I don't care about the local LEO's. This is a federal case and I want Max Gentry!"

"Listen, Lew, I know you think he can get us Peterson, but you don't really know if he'll roll on his boss."

"He's been in the pen twice, we have enough on him to threaten him with his third strike unless he cooperates. I know we can get him to flip!"

"He never has before, so what makes you so sure he will this time? There's no guarantee with this bastard, he's smart and he's slippery. It just wasn't in the cards today. We still don't know what the hell even went down here. We come in looking for Gentry and instead find three guys out cold, one cuffed to a chair, one belted to a door knob and one locked in the trunk of a car, none of them him. There's no sign of him anywhere or that he was ever even here." The younger man looked around, seemingly noticing that Nicky and Weir were now awake. "Well, look here, the two sleeping beauties are awake." He moved over and took the dish cloth gag out of Weir's mouth. "What happened here?"

"Lawyer." Weir answered.

"Wow, now that was quick. Lawyer it is. Maybe we can get something out of the other two." Barrett shoved the gag back in Weir's mouth and worked his way over to Nicky. He pulled out the gag and asked. "How about you, you got anything to say?"

Instead of talking to him, Nicky addressed his comments to Weir. "Boss, Max insisted he wasn't a cop, that Stevie was the one who set us up." Weir started to squirm, trying to push the gag out again. Hellstrom was closer, so leaned over to remove it again.

"When I get my hands on that little weasel, he'll be sorry he was ever born!" Weir spat out.

"Did you just threaten a federal agent in my hearing, Mr. Weir?" Hellstrom asked.

"Federal agent? Then he's not a cop?"

"Not anymore. Stevie left LAPD a while back and started working with us. Damn good undercover operative."

Weir sputtered a bit, realizing he'd taken the wrong guy and probably made an enemy of a man who had the reputation of being ruthless with those that crossed him. He hadn't worried about retribution when he thought Gentry was a cop, especially as he hadn't been planning on letting him leave here alive. He swallowed hard, wondering if he could make a deal with these guys. "Look, you guys need to put me in protective custody if Gentry really isn't a cop."

"We don't _need_ to do anything, Mr. Weir. Unless you'd care to cooperate with us? You're going to jail no matter what but, we can make it somewhat safer and more comfortable, if we're so inclined. Or, we could let you go and put the word out that you cooperated. I bet Gentry would just love to hear that. I saw what was left of the last guy to cross him. We never could pin it on him, but I know it was him. Guy had to be identified by dental records."

Weir debated, wondering if his lawyer would be able to get him out of this. Worried that if he did, Gentry would hunt him down and kill him. His shoulders slumped, knowing he was between a rock and a hard place. When Gentry had worked for him he'd never seen the side of him that the stories said existed. Of course, he'd never given him cause to. Now, he had plenty of cause. "What do you want?"

"Who was the woman who abducted Gentry from Peterson's bachelor party?"

"Why do you care?"

"She matches the description of a person of interest in several other cases we're working on."

"Who's we?"

Hellstrom wondered when that question would come up. He introduced himself and his partner. "Lewis Hellstrom." Pointing at his chest. Then cocked a thumb at Andy. "Andrew Barrett. Las Vegas field office of the FBI."

"Shit." Was the only reply.

When Cheryl had called from L.A. and asked Hellstrom for a favor, he'd been all ears. He'd worked with her on a case a few years back and they'd kept in touch. When she'd explained that a friend of hers, who was an undercover LAPD cop, had been abducted in Las Vegas as the result of an old case and had somehow gotten free and was now trying to salvage his alias, he'd been onboard immediately. His partner had jumped in as well, but had asked why they didn't just call LVPD. Cheryl had indicated this was personal and they didn't want LVPD getting all territorial on them, plus the man was technically a federal agent so this would be FBI jurisdiction anyway.

They'd arrived at the scene and been introduced to a rather large group of law enforcement from various agencies, including Naval Intelligence and the CIA. He'd asked why they'd needed his help, they seemed like they could more than cover this. In response, the man he'd been introduced to as NCIS Agent Eric Beale, took out a phone that had been found on one of the men inside and pulled up some pictures. Most of the men surrounding him were in it. Turned out one of the guys they were there to scam, had seen the cop and recognized him. Unfortunately, that also meant he'd seen the entire group. The women were also out as the information they had on Weir was that he didn't think highly of women and was unlikely to give a female cop any information. He'd had a good laugh when he found out that they were supposed to be there for a bachelor party and the cop's fiancé and three of her friends had tailed them here.

Cheryl's cop friend had turned out to be a shaggy haired, scruffy guy named Marty Deeks, who had more of the air of a surfer about him, than undercover cop. He'd told them his story and Lew had raised an eyebrow, thinking it had to be embellished. The guy didn't look capable of half the stuff that he'd said had gone down. He looked at the group and the man named Sam Hanna had laughed at his expression and told him how'd they'd found Deeks and the three men inside, puffing up his chest and sounding quite proud of the man, which brought a bemused smile to Deeks's face.

In return for their help, the L.V. FBI office would get the collar and the privilege of returning two of them back to Los Angeles to face jail time. They knew they couldn't hold them on the kidnapping of a federal agent without revealing who 'Max Gentry' was, so this was the next best thing. The guy in the truck had turned out to be a hired gun named Benny Zuzick and was on LVPD's wanted list. They planned on handing him over to LVPD for prosecution for the same reason. There was no way any of this group could be involved in either arrest and still keep the alias of Max Gentry viable so, here the two of them were. They'd been tasked with making sure the men thought Deeks really was Gentry, pushing suspicion off on someone named Stevie and also getting the name of the woman who'd taken him at gunpoint. The look on the face of the NCIS agent who was the cop's fiancé, when they got to that part, had actually scared both of them a little.

"The name of the woman?" Andy prodded.

Weir thought about it and decided he really didn't care what happened to Natasha, after all she was just another woman, even if she'd been one of the only ones he'd ever met who was capable of thinking about something other than shoes or babies. He shrugged. "Natasha Kedrov."

Andy and Lew exchanged glances. They knew that name, she really was wanted in connection with several contract killings in the Vegas area. "The name's familiar." Was all Lew said.

Hearing this over comms, Eric immediately added the name to the description given by Deeks that he was already running a search on, along with the fact that she may, or may not, own a red mustang. Adding a name to the search engine could help narrow down the results. Fifteen minutes later, the two FBI agents hustled Weir, Karger and Zuzick to their car and drove away. Sam and the others had driven off the property so they wouldn't be seen, but were near enough to lend a hand should anything go south, listening in on their own comms. The Suburban the two agents were driving, pulled out and turned down the street, away from where they were parked. By all accounts, it had worked. Weir and Karger thought Max was exactly who he'd claimed to be and that Stevie was the cop. In addition, they had the woman's name, even though it was unlikely it was her real one.

From the backseat of Kensi's car, Nell and Eric both said. "Yes!"

"What did you find, Eric?" Asked Kensi turned to face the two analysts in the back. She was sitting in the rental with Deeks in the passenger seat. She hadn't let him out of her sight since they'd busted into the house.

"We think we have Natasha Kedrov, or Nadia Kopsev or Nakesha Koshkin, take your pick. We got nothing on any of those names entering the country in the last five years, so she may be American born. The mustang is registered to Nadia, the address we found to Nakesha. I'm sending you her driver's license picture now. There's nothing on record for Natasha." Eric said, Nell nodding at his side.

"The alias she uses for her work." Callen said. "She wouldn't put it on anything law enforcement could use to track her down."

All their phones pinged and Deeks said. "Yup, that's her. Good work Eric!" Kensi nodded as she too recognized the woman in the picture.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Give us the address and let's go!" Kensi's hands were tight on the steering wheel.

"Look, Kens…" Callen started to say but Kensi interrupted him.

"No, Callen. Just no! She took what belongs to _me_ and _I_ get to take her down." She snarled at him. In the seat next to her, Deeks practically choked when he heard that he belonged to her. She looked at him and smiled. "You know what I meant!"

He grinned back and leaned over to kiss her hard on the lips and she immediately responded. From the back seat, Nell and Eric both said at the same time. "Get a room!"

~,~,~,~

Natasha Kedrov, or Naomi Kerner as her parents and childhood friends back in Wichita Falls would know her, entered her darkened condo and kicked off her shoes, putting her purse and keys on the table inside the door as she keyed her code into the security system. She stretched luxuriously, already planning on a long hot bath with a nice bottle of wine for company. She'd had a good couple of days. Her assignment last night had gone off without a hitch and she'd delivered the target to that scumbag Weir as requested, her lip curling up when she thought of him. She knew he didn't think much of women, but he paid well. He thought she worked for him exclusively but she had many other 'clients' he knew nothing about. Tonight she'd left pieces of a body spread out over the desert to be vulture food. She'd made a tidy little sum in less than twenty-four hours and hadn't even chipped a nail.

She moved into the living room and bent over to turn on the light beside the couch. It took a few seconds to register the woman sitting in the chair opposite it, holding a gun on her. She felt nothing but a slight curiosity and inspected the other woman like she was a bug on a pin. "What are you doing in my home? How did you get in here?" She asked with no inflection in her voice. No one was supposed to be allowed into the complex without being announced first and her security system had been sold to her as state of the art and unbeatable. She sat on the couch and put one leg over the other as she casually stuffed her hand between the cushions.

Kensi held up a gun in her left hand, letting it hang off her index finger. "Looking for this?" She'd had plenty of time to search the condo while she waited for the woman to come home. They'd found a locked side door and had picked the lock, bypassing the alarm and the doorman at the front desk. She'd been able to slip into the building unnoticed and up to the floor Eric and Nell had said the condo was located on, making short work of its security system. The boys had stayed downstairs to keep an eye on things and to warn her when Natasha was on her way. Once inside, she'd found all manner of weapons hidden in various places throughout the condo. "Now, you were very naughty and took something last night that didn't belong to you. But don't worry, I got it back."

"Good for you."

"Yes, it was. Oh, by the way? Your boss, Paul Weir, is in FBI custody and gave you up without a second thought."

"He's not my boss, he's just one of several clients. One who should be watching his back from now on. So, are you a cop?"

"Federal agent. Kensi Blye, NCIS."

"And federal agents are now breaking into homes and holding people at gunpoint, Kensi? May I call you Kensi? Oh wait, this is personal isn't it? The guy I took last night means something to you?" She didn't bother to deny abducting him, she had to assume the man had gotten free somehow and could identify her. She had no intention of going to jail. It would be so…boring. She also had no intention of dying, at least not tonight. She had skills and she was sure the agent had underestimated her, people always did.

"He's my fiancé. He also happens to be a federal agent as well. That makes his kidnapping a federal offence."

"I'm shaking in my shoes."

Kensi was getting impatient. This woman was unnerving and she remembered Deeks stating her eyes were cold and dead. Looking at her, she now understood exactly what he meant. She could just as easily be chatting with a visitor instead of a pissed off, armed federal agent. It was time to get this show on the road. Deeks, Sam, Callen, Lew and Andy were waiting for her downstairs, listening in on comms. She'd insisted that she could handle this, that this was something she needed to do. If anything went wrong, she knew back up was only seconds away. She stood up. "Get up and put your hands behind your back."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll make you and enjoy every _single_ moment of it."

"Try it."

Kensi stuffed the extra gun in her waistband and approached the woman. She aimed her gun at her head, making sure to stay out of reach. She wasn't stupid, she knew this woman had to be skilled to be doing what she had, for as long as she had. She'd read what little they had on her in the FBI file Lew had sent over on her, cover to cover. "I'll ask you nicely one more time, stand up and put your hands behind your head." She grated out.

Naomi got up slowly, calculating the distance between them and, when she reached her full height, she leapt at her opponent, getting her hand locked on the arm holding the gun and forcing it upwards and away from her. What she didn't count on was the fact that Kensi was also very well trained. The fight rampaged around the room, the sounds reaching the men downstairs as they raced through the lobby from their stations just outside the building, shouting NCIS and FBI, holding up their badges to the doorman. The startled man buzzed the door just before Deeks hit it, running flat out. He would have tried to go right through the glass without a thought, if the door hadn't opened for him. They raced up the stairs and exited on the third floor where the condo was located. Deeks busted the door down and stopped short. Natasha, or whatever her name was, was lying on her stomach on the floor, looking dazed, blood oozing from various cuts on her face and a grinning Kensi sitting on her back, gun pointed at the back of her head.

"Uh, Kens? Kensalina? How ya doing there?" Deeks asked as he lowered his gun.

"Oh just great!" She wiped some blood off her lips with the back of her hand, still grinning. "Nothing like a little sparring to get the blood moving!" She got up and hauled Naomi to her feet, then cuffed her. She pushed the woman along in front of her, asking as she passed the men. "You know what? I think we earned ourselves a little party before we head home, don't you?"

Deeks grinned. "Yup! Told you guys, I got me a badass federal agent for a fiancé!"

~,~,~,~

A/N3 – so apparently this chapter decided it didn't want to be the epilogue. Maybe the next one will cooperate?


	5. Chapter 5

Epilogue – Sunday night

Sam handed the money to the bartender with a smile and picked up his drinks. Turning, he scanned the nightclub, looking for Michelle. He found her quickly, standing by the dance floor, watching all the bodies gyrate to the rock music that pounded through the speakers, her body unconsciously moving with the beat. He maneuvered his way over to her and put his arms around her. She leaned back into him and took her drink from his right hand. Now empty, it settled around her waist. He dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head, happy as always to have her in his arms. She sighed in contentment and took a sip of her drink. The mass of bodies on the floor ebbed and flowed and then she caught sight of Marty and Kensi. A smile lifted the corners of her lips and she turned her head slightly to look up at her husband.

"Take a look at that, will you?" She asked.

"What? The most beautiful woman in the place?" Sam responded, looking down into the face he loved and knew so well.

She grinned up at him, appreciative of the compliment but shook her head. "No, I mean the two of them." She pointed out to the floor and his eyes followed her direction. The dancers were moving wildly to the rock beat, all, that was, except for one couple. Deeks had his arms around Kensi, his cheek resting on her head where it was tucked neatly into his shoulder. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. Both had their eyes closed as they swayed gently in time to music that definitely bore no relation to that echoing through the club. He smiled widely at the sight and looked around for Callen. He spotted him talking with Joelle, or at least trying to over the noise, both holding drinks but not really partaking of them. He carefully shuffled Michelle and himself closer, not letting her go and causing a happy giggle to emanate from his wife.

Finally close enough to be heard, he tried to get his partner's attention. "Callen." When he didn't respond, he tried a little louder. "Callen!" The man turned with a question on his face. Sam nodded towards the dance floor and both he and Joelle turned to look. Callen smirked but Joelle got a faraway look on her face that said she found the sight hugely romantic. The rest of the "gang of girls", Hetty included, as she wanted to see for herself how her favorite detective was, had flown the short distance to Las Vegas after word had gotten out about Deeks's abduction, Houdini like escape and the fact that four of their number had tailed their boys to Sin City. The "band of boys" weekend away for the groom's bachelor party had turned into a couples outing. Hetty had graciously extended their weekend by a day, saying she hoped they would all be able to enjoy themselves for at least one night. It certainly looked like she was including herself in that statement, as she and Owen Granger were currently sitting at a table towards the back, doing significant damage to a large bottle of _very_ expensive whiskey.

Kensi had wanted to celebrate taking Natasha down with a big party and they certainly had the numbers to warrant reserving at least a room for themselves, but couldn't find anything decent to book at such short notice. So, here they were, all crammed into the nightclub at the girl's hotel, along with what felt like hundreds of other tourists and locals. Still, no one was complaining. Things could have turned out much worse. Two wanted men were on their way back to L.A., another was in the custody of the LVPD and an assassin for hire was in the hands of the Las Vegas FBI office. Most importantly, Deeks was safe. All in all, not a bad result for what amounted to little more than a day's work.

Callen looked back at Sam as his expression sobered. "We have a lot to make up to him, to both of them."

Sam sighed. "I know. I meant it when I said I knew he'd never cheat on Kensi. I just hope he can overlook a momentary lapse in judgment."

Michelle sighed too. "You're not the only ones who owes them an apology."

Callen and Joelle looked at her questioningly. Sam knew what she meant as they'd already talked about it. "When Deeks left with that woman, Nell, Laura and I, we all assumed the worse, just like you did. We said some things to Kensi that are going to take some groveling to make up for. She knew though, she knew immediately that something was wrong. She can read him like a book. It never crossed her mind that he was leaving with that woman for any reason except under duress."

Callen nodded. "He's the same with her. Who would have thought when Hetty brought him onboard eight years ago, that this is where we would end up?"

Sam grunted. "I sure didn't. I didn't think he'd last a month. I was so wrong about him back then. I guess Hetty saw something right away that the rest of us had to learn. He's proven himself so many times. It's going to bother me for a long time to come that I believed, even for a minute, that he would do that to Kensi."

"I know big guy. I learned a lot about him when we were undercover down the row. Things I forgot about in the heat of the moment." Callen paused, his eyes on the couple out on the dance floor. "He's going to hold this over our heads for a long time, you do know that, don't you?"

Sam nodded and groaned. "Yeah, I foresee a lot of hurt puppy dog looks coming our way when he wants something we don't want to give him. Along with gentle reminders of what happened this weekend."

Michelle elbowed him lightly in the side, while glaring at Callen. "And you'll give it to him, right?"

Both men swallowed and nodded. "He's going to be impossible to live with." Callen sighed.

"Amen to that, brother."

~,~,~,~

On the other side of the dance floor, John and Laura sat at a table of their own. John had talked Laura into wearing the green contact lenses again and he had eyes for no one but her. Laura was loving the extra attention and felt a little surge of excitement when she realized they were sort of role playing. She loved the way he looked at her, like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She was looking forward to returning to their room later that night. In fact, she thought, if it weren't for the fact that she still felt bad for thinking the worst of her "little brother", she would've hauled John back to their room by now and had her wicked way with him. The thought brought her back down to earth and her husband instantly picked up on it.

He put a hand over hers and asked. "Laura, honey, what's wrong?"

"Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Because, you looked like you were having a great time and then you suddenly looked kind of sad and lost. What are you thinking?"

Laura sighed. She hadn't yet told him about what she, Nell and Michelle had thought Friday night, when they saw Marty walk out with another woman. She had been, and still was, ashamed of herself. "When that woman abducted Marty right from under our noses, I thought….I thought he was going with her willingly. That he was going to…" She stopped, not able to continue.

"Laura. We're all at fault in this. You girls weren't the only ones."

Laura turned haunted eyes to his. "I know. But what if things had turned out differently? What if our not believing Kensi and delaying her from going after him, had resulted in something really bad happening to him?"

"Baby, nothing did."

"We were lucky, damn lucky that nothing did."

"Look, we both know that Marty has a dangerous job. Pretty much all our newly extended family does. We've almost lost one or more of them over the last couple years. It's hard, but it's worth it. They're worth it."

"I know that. But this time? This time I was front and center. I feel like I unwittingly played a part in him almost getting killed. How can either of them forgive us for that?"

"They'll forgive us because they love us and because they know we love them. Plus, as he just showed, Marty's pretty resourceful. He got himself out of that mess with no need of help from anyone, least of all us. Still, we all showed up en force and that has to count for something with him."

She smiled at him, albeit a little tremulously. "You're a great guy, you know that?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Yeah? What will all that greatness get me?"

This time her smile was genuine and she turned its full force on him, making his jaw go a little slack. Leaning forward, she started to whisper in his ear and his face turned beat red. He swallowed hard when she sat back in her chair. "Really?" He was startled when his voice came out high pitched and cracked on the one word. She smirked at him and nodded. He couldn't wait for enough time to pass so they could excuse themselves without feeling guilty and head back to their room. His heart rate accelerated and he smirked back at her.

~,~,~,~

"Well, does this mean you won't be tailing any of us again?" Eric asked, his arms crossed over his chest, having refused her repeated requests to go out on the dance floor. He knew she loved to dance. Well, so did he, but he was still a little miffed that she, Michelle, Kensi and Laura had felt they needed to, what in his mind basically boiled down to, babysit them.

Nell looked contrite as she put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry that we tailed you guys. It was never supposed to be anything more than just a lark. It's not like we didn't trust you, it's just that trouble seems to follow Deeks. I mean, look what happened!" She repeated what she'd said to Deeks. Unfortunately, his response was similar to Deeks's.

"We had it under control. _He_ had it under control. We didn't need your help!" He felt bad when he saw the flash of hurt on her face. "Look, Nell, I didn't mean it that way. I only meant that you have to trust that we know what we're doing and, if something bad does happen, that we know how to handle ourselves. We're all big boys now."

She sighed. "I do know that. It's just, it was hard knowing you were all going away to someplace really fun without us. Someplace that can also be a little dangerous." She blinked up at him, her eyes warm and soulful. He couldn't resist her when she was like this but he tried.

"You know we all owe the two of them an apology but, you girls? You owe Deeks an even bigger one. Not only did you tail us here, basically because of him, but you also believed he was leaving with another woman to go do god knows what!"

"I am well aware of that Beale." She was looking a little miffed herself but he was pretty sure it was guilt that was talking. She looked up at him again and softened. "I know we all owe Deeks and Kensi an apology. I've given him mine and I'm pretty sure he's accepted it. Doesn't mean I won't stop trying to make amends. I'm just glad…" Her voice hitched and Eric's arms went around her without him even thinking about it. "I'm just glad he's okay."

"We all are. I have a hard time imagining one of them going on without the other. They were like oil and water when he first became her partner. Remember? I never thought they'd both grow so much and fall in love like they did. Although, there sure were plenty of sparks around the two of them from the very beginning. I just thought it would explode and he would be incinerated in the blast, never to be seen or heard from again."

They both chuckled and Nell's eyes searched the club, looking for the two people they were talking about. She found them and had to smile. Like Sam and Callen, she was happy to see the two of them wrapped around each other. "Well, look at that." She nodded towards the floor. She loved the way his face lit up when he smiled at seeing them. "Come, on, let's get out there and dance!" She tugged on his arm and this time he willingly followed her. It wasn't until later that he realized she'd never agreed that the girls wouldn't tail them again.

~,~,~,~

Kensi snuggled into Deeks even further. He murmured in her hair. "You know you can't get much closer to me without actually getting inside my skin, don't you?"

She giggled a little. The sound made his heart clench. When he'd first met this amazing, wonderful, _dangerous_ woman, she'd been so uptight, he never would've believed anyone who said she'd giggle that way. He tightened his arms around her, making her gasp a little and she softly said. "Back at cha!" Laughing softly, he loosened his hold, just a little. After all, wouldn't do to squeeze the bride to death just a week before the wedding. Holy crap! They were getting married in a week. _He_ was getting married in a week. He felt a slight sweat break out across his forehead. He wanted to marry this woman more than anything, but he would always worry that he wasn't good enough for her, that he'd mess it up somehow.

She leaned back in his arms and said. "Stop it."

"Stop what, Kensalina?"

"Stop thinking that this isn't going to work out somehow."

"How…..?"

"I know you Deeks. I know you love me and want to marry me, but I also know that you worry, way too much. This is going to work. Why? Because I love you too. I want to marry you too. We, together, will make this work!"

"I love you."

"Like I said, I love you too."

She snuggled back in and they swayed a little more. She could tell he was still a little tense and sighed. "What else is bothering you?"

"I guess the fact that so many people, people who I though knew me better, could think I'd do that to you. Just leave with another woman the first time I'm away from you. A week before our wedding no less."

"Marty, no one really thought that. Once they got over the initial shock, they all knew you'd never do that. They've all apologized and explained, right?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't see how worried they all were about you when we couldn't find you. Sam especially."

"Really?"

"Yes, you worked your magic and got under his skin. He cares about you. He cares about both of us. They all do." She looked up at him and he smirked. She smiled and said. "You're going to milk this for all it's worth, aren't you?"

"Hell yes, wouldn't you?"

She smiled and replied. "Maybe. Just…don't push it too far, okay? Sam has his pride, so does Callen."

"I'll be careful."

"Uh huh." She put her head back on his shoulder. Whatever he did, she'd always be there to watch his back.

~,~,~,~

Hetty took another sip of her whisky and watched the dance floor. She was well aware of the location of each one of her agents, their significant others and the friends they, especially Deeks, had brought into her orbit. They were all good people and she cared for them. Deeks, however, held a special place in her heart. She'd done things over the years she wasn't always happy about, things she'd felt needed to be done, things she knew her team could hold against her for a long time to come. She sighed, it wasn't easy being the one who made all the unpopular chess moves, or as she once told Callen, moved the board, but she had never done anything to hurt them that hadn't needed to be done, at least at the time. It hadn't always worked out the way she thought but even she didn't have a crystal ball to see the future. She could only work with the information she had and, when things didn't work out the way she'd planned, try to make amends.

"Hetty? What are you thinking?" Or at least that's what she was pretty sure she heard. Owen was slurring his words a little, the whisky they'd been steadily working their way through impacting him more than her. She'd always been able to hold her liquor better than him.

"Just watching over my team, Owen."

"You know they pretty much all owe Deeks, and Blye, a major aplo…apl…they need to say they're sorry for what they thought."

Hetty hid her smirk behind the glass she lifted to her lips. "I know, Owen, but somehow I think it will all work out."

He laughed heartily. "If I know Deeks, and I think I've come to over the last few years, he's going to make the most of this whole thing. He'll use it against them when they least expect it."

"Oh yes, Owen, I know. I wouldn't expect any less of our Mr. Deeks."

~,~,~,~

A/N – Sorry for the delay. I went to Las Vegas for a week for a conference and figured I'd be spending my nights in my room, writing and reading. Instead I discovered a fun side of some of my co-workers and ended up not returning to my room until 3:30 _AM_ two mornings in a row, and we had 8:30 sessions! Once I got back, I had a lot to catch up on, including sleep! Anyway, here's the end of this story. It has been suggested that I do a bachelorette party, with possibly an appearance by an undercover "Magic Marty"! Thoughts?


End file.
